A NEW BRANCH OF EE

The All India Council of Technical Education (AICTE) recently introduced a model curriculum for B.Tech in a new branch of electrical engineering Very Large Scale Integration (VLSI) design and technology - as well as a diploma in Integrated Circuits (IC) manufacturing.

- Sheena Sachdeva

Siva Rama Krishna Vanjari, assistant professor, Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad, chaired the committees that framed the courses and spoke to Careers360 about what they bring and why engineering students must look beyond computer science for careers. Edited excerpts below.

Q. How is the electrical engineering curriculum changing?

A. This is not an extension of electronics and communication engineering [ECE] or electrical and electronics engineering [EEE]. This curriculum is a new branch of engineering tuned towards VLSI design and technology. Although the fundamentals will be the same for these courses, the orientation will be different. The examples will be different but the concepts will be the same.

We took the suggestions from the India Semiconductor Mission (ISM) committee. In December 2022, ISM was established as an independent business division under Digital India Corporation. ISM is responsible for catalysing the India semiconductor ecosystem in manufacturing, packaging and design. Under ISM, a committee was constituted to look into promoting the VLSI products and design. They have suggested the subjects and courses a VLSI graduate should be skilled in to be industry-ready.

Over the past 20 years, ECE and EEE domains have evolved tremendously. The four-year course is divided into two years of basics and two years of advanced topics and application. We have introduced VLSI design, fabrication and technology basics in this curriculum.

Students are learning the theory and replicating what is done in the industry in the curriculum itself. This is the key differentiator that we are bringing into the curriculum.

Q. What topics does the model curriculum cover?